Persephone never expected
The rush of darkness
As the sky closed over.
Six months and she would never see the sun.

She didn’t think she could survive.
She didn’t think she could stand it –
This dark dampness,
without even the stars or moon.

She could feel her senses grow numb
As the smell of warm wheat in a summer meadow
Grew out of reach
As the world she knew
Fell away.

She only grabbed for Hades
So that she wouldn’t feel so alone
But even then
His hand was as rock to her soft petal fingers.

She went to let go of him,
But mislead, he seized her shoulder,
Started rolling his dead fish tongue
Around her pollen mouth.

She wanted to scream,
But his skin on her skin
Was death.
She couldn’t move.

Later, he would offer her apologies,
Laying six more pomegranate seeds at her bedside,
And a note:
“I don’t know what I did to upset you.”